Title is up to Camilla, says Charles's office

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Camilla Parker Bowles will not have to be Queen Camilla if her
husband becomes king, Prince Charles's office has insisted.

The Prince and his bride-to-be, sensitive to strong public
opinion against Mrs Parker Bowles ever becoming queen, had said she
would take the title of princess consort if he becomes king. They
are to marry in a civil ceremony on April 8.

Paddy Harverson, communications secretary for Prince Charles,
said legal advice issued by the British Government this week that
Mrs Parker Bowles would be queen if he became king did not prevent
her from choosing a different title.

Replying to a parliamentary question, the Constitutional Affairs
Minister, Christopher Leslie, said the marriage would not be
morganatic - in which a spouse of inferior status has no claim to
the status of the other.

Andrew Mackinlay, the Labour MP who raised the question, said:
"This is absolutely unequivocal that she automatically becomes
queen when he becomes king.".

The Department for Constitutional Affairs confirmed the
interpretation, saying legislation would be required to deny the
title of queen to the king's wife.

Newspapers in Britain, where the public is warming to the royal
wedding but still opposes the prospect of a Queen Camilla, have
carried headlines reading "Camilla will be Queen if Charles is
King" and "Camilla will be Queen".

But Mr Harverson said the Government's advice had been wrongly
interpreted, and if Mrs Parker Bowles did not want to be called
queen, there was no need for legislation. "The implication of some
of today's media reporting is that Mrs Parker Bowles would have to
be called queen unless there is legislation," Mr Harverson
said.

"This is incorrect and not in accordance with the Government's
advice. Mrs Parker Bowles can, as she wishes, be referred to as
princess consort, rather than queen, without legislation.

"Legislation would only be required if it was deemed necessary
to confirm formally that she should not have the title and status
of queen."

Mr Harverson said Mrs Parker Bowles had made it clear she did
not want to be called queen and Prince Charles agreed with her
choice.

Immediately after their wedding, Mrs Parker Bowles will be
called Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall, and will not be
known as the Princess of Wales, the title used by the late Princess
Diana.

Mr Mackinlay dismissed Mr Harverson's statement as wrong and
arrogant. "We are being asked to accept that the law is what they
say it is," he said. "I don't accept that.

"They have missed the point. This is not a matter for them, it
is matter for Parliament. Parliament is the custodian of the
constitution."

Should there be violent objections at the time of the Prince's
accession, legislation in the form of the Civil List Act, which
takes place at the beginning of any new reign, could ensure that
she is formally refused the title and status of a queen.

William Hill, the bookmakers, this week cut the price of Mrs
Parker Bowles becoming queen by January 1, 2010 from 6/1 to
5/1.